The present invention generally relates to a novel opening and closing device for protecting a defined building space which can be used, for example, on folding shutters, sliding doors, roller shutters and similar structures.
As an example, roller-type shutters are often used to protect a defined building space. Such roller-type shutters are generally comprised of plural slats which are fixed to one another by a system of hinges to form a sheet which is capable of sliding within two lateral guides. The resulting sheet is wound around a drum, which is generally located at the top of a window or some other aperture for delimiting the building space, making it possible to completely open the roller-type shutters.
Such roller-type shutters are closed by slowly unwinding the sheet which has been wound on the drum, making it possible for the slats to slide in the lateral guides. The slats are not made pivotable so as to better carry out the closing operation.
An object of the present invention is to provide slats for such shutters which are capable of pivoting on themselves, which has been found to provide additional and useful operating functions.